Cummins goes electric with future mini-excavator

First published at bauma - April 10, 2019

Cummins electric mini excavator

As part of the industry-wide drive towards lower emissions, Cummins is displaying a prototype electric mini-excavator.

The 3.2tonne vehicle remains a work in progress, with changes to its shape already in the works, said marketing communications director Steve Nendick.

The prototype has a ‘tail’ behind the cab “because the battery pack we’ve put in there is not exactly for this application”. At present, it has eight BM4.4E modules connected in series to provide total energy of 35 kWh. This is designed to suffice for a full work shift and to be capable of being recharged in three hours.

Mounted near the base of the excavator, the Cummins-designed and built battery modules use Li-ion technology to achieve a higher energy density, together with proprietary control technology to maintain the battery state-of-charge for a longer zero emission operating time.

When the finalised powerpack is applied to the machine, the tail will disappear from its profile.

The mini-excavator will likely go into production around 2021 and the excavator’s zero emissions will make it particularly suited to urban sites.

Cummins is celebrating its centenary; in a speech marking the event, chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger said that while diesel had been king in the construction vehicle sector for the past 100 years, it would cease to be in the next 100. However, he added: “We will continue to innovate our diesel engines because that will still be the best solution for some customers and applications.”

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